This plant will produce thin-film solar cells using large-size glass substrates measuring 1,000mm x 1,400mm. Thin-film solar cells have a structure in which thin layers of silicon are accumulated onto a glass substrate, enabling a dramatic reduction in the amount of silicon used, to approximately one hundredth the amount used in crystalline solar cells.

The production processes are simpler, thereby lowering production costs. For this reason, the demand for thin-film solar cells, especially for use in large-scale photovoltaic power generation, has been steady from all over the world.

The thin-film solar cell plant in Sakai will serve as a model plant for future Sharp thin-film solar cell plants around the world. Sharp will continue to accumulate and enhance its proprietary production technology and its know-how, to meet the world's growing demand for solar cells.

What are solar panels?
Solar panels are solar photovoltaic modules/arrays that use solar cells to convert light from the sun into electricity. The term is sometimes used to refer to solar thermal collectors that use the sun's energy to heat water or other fluids.